Bears football wins thriller over Idaho State on last-second field goal

The University of Northern Colorado enters the field for their game against College of Idaho on Sept. 2, 2017. (Photo by Timothy Page)

Nothing sends fans home happier than a walk off with no time remaining.

With just over two minutes left, Jacob Knipp orchestrated one of the best drives of the season, hitting receivers Hakeem Deggs and Alex Wesley for huge gains.

Then with three seconds left all eyes were on Sophomore kicker Collin Root and his right leg.

A perfect snap and hold meant a perfect kick down the middle giving the bears the 43-42 win over Idaho State University.

“As soon as I kicked it I knew I had the distance and then I saw it was going right down the middle,” Root said. “I didn’t have to see the refs give the signal. I just took off and went to go celebrate with my teammates.”

Knipp was spreading the ball around throughout the game, racking up 413 yards and four touchdowns.

The Knipp to Wesley connection was on display for the second straight week.

Similar to the CU game, Knipp was able to hold the safety in the middle of the field while evading the ISU blitzing linebacker and drop a rainbow to Wesley streaking down the hash.

“We were able to pick those blitzes up and make the most of those opportunities,” Knipp said. “It makes my job really easy when the receivers are running wide open and I just get them the ball.”

Leading 40-30 going into the fourth, the Bears offense stalled out and couldn’t buy a first down.

UNC’s offense forced the defense to be on the field most of the quarter and allowed Idaho State to take the lead on a deep fade route in the end zone.

Both sides of the ball never gave up or treated the game as they were going to lose.

“It was great to see our players never give up,” Coach Earnest Collins Jr said. “It was great to see the team have each other’s back.”

Stone Kane had his second interception in as many games, while linebacker Luke Nelson couldn’t be stopped, finishing with a career high with 17 tackles.

The Bears take the trip next week to Northern Arizona for their second Big Sky Conference game. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.